The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed June 1 to deliver its verdict on two appeals filed by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami—one challenging the cancellation of its registration as a political party and the other seeking allocation of ‘daripalla’ (scales) as its election symbol.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, set the date after concluding hearings on both matters over four days.
On October 22, 2024, the Appellate Division reinstated Jamaat’s appeal, which had been dismissed on November 19, 2023, due to the absence of its lawyers during the hearing.
During the proceedings, Jamaat’s counsel, Ehsan Abdullah Siddiq, argued that the High Court’s decision to uphold the Election Commission’s cancellation of the party’s registration was premature and arbitrary, as Jamaat’s application for registration was still under review by the EC at the time.
In a separate plea, Jamaat also sought the restoration of daripalla as its electoral symbol.
The Election Commission revoked the allocation following a directive from the Supreme Court, which, on December 14, 2016, forwarded a full court meeting decision instructing the EC not to allocate daripalla to any political party as it was Supreme Court’s symbol.
This development resulted from an August 1, 2013 High Court verdict which ruled that Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission violated legal provisions.
The legal battle began on January 25, 2009, when Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, the then secretary general of the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, an ally of then ruling Awami League, along with 24 others, filed a writ petition challenging Jamaat’s registration.
The petitioners argued that Jamaat, being a religion-based political party, did not uphold independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
After the High Court ruling, Jamaat appealed to the Appellate Division, which later upheld the High Court decision.
On August 1, 2024, the Awami League regime led by Sheikh Hasina banned Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir labelling them terrorist organisations under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The ban coincided with the tail end of the student-led movement against discrimination, which eventually ousted the Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5.
The interim government, which took power on August 8, after requests from Jamaat, reversed the gazette notification that had banned the party.
